Miami Valley villages have connection to Paris name

ST. PARIS, Ohio (WDTN) – Paris, France has been front and center for the last few weeks hosting the 2024 Summer Olympic games.

But the Miami Valley has two villages that bear the Parisian namesake – St. Paris and New Paris.

2 NEWS Anchor Kelley King paid a visit to both places to explore the French connection.

St. Paris in Champaign County was founded in 1831 and is known as a “pony wagon town,” once a center of manufacturing the colorful carts.

Village Council Member Terry Ervin has lived in St. Paris since 1992.

“St. Paris is a pretty cool place, a special place, because you got a lot of nice people here. People are friendly, you know. They’ll hold the door for you. They’ll help you out,” says Ervin.

Local businesses line West Main Street downtown.

“I go to the hardware store sometimes because, you know, you need something. So that’s a pretty cool place to go. And like, there’s a furniture store. Whenever we need a mattress or something like that, we go there. My wife hits the cafe here, Little Birds Cafe, usually on the way to work in the morning,” states Ervin.

Not the Eiffel Tower, but St. Paris has its own landmarks of sorts with two massive water towers.

“Paris is hosting the Olympics. I don’t think we have enough pools or things like that,” laughs and jokes Ervin. “I mean, we’ve got, you know, softball fields and stuff.”

Aaralyn Maddux who graduated from Graham High School recently took an overseas trip, and one of the places she visited was Paris, France.

“I went to Dublin and London, but Paris was definitely my favorite. I was there for two days, so we did Paris. I saw the Eiffel Tower. We went to the Louvre. It was beautiful. People were awesome. Food was great. And then we went to Versailles. The next day. It was beautiful. The architecture was beautiful,” describes Maddux.

For Maddux, St. Paris is home.

“I grew up here. I have lived here my whole life. I’ve never moved. I just love the community,” states Maddux.

Her mother owns Little Birds Cafe on the corner of South Springfield Street and West Main Street. The cafe has been open for about two years.

Down the street, West Main Coffeehouse has been open for business for several months.

“We have all different coffees from Hemisphere. We also have Velvet ice cream. We have McNabb’s sourdough. We have different organic cupcakes. We have Bair Farm meats and muffins. We have all sorts of local vendors. We have beautiful flowers,” lists West Main Coffeehouse Co-Owner Miranda Bateson.

Bateson moved to St. Paris in September, a few months before opening the coffee shop.

“I love St. Paris because actually, my grandparents owned a grocery store when I was a small little girl,” states Bateson. “It’s just been absolutely wonderful being back here, and everybody is just wonderful. And I absolutely love how close knit this little town is. It’s absolutely beautiful.”

Not to be confused with St. Paris, some 60 miles away in Preble County, there’s the village of New Paris.

Its claim to fame is the Christmas song “Up on the Housetop,” where Reverend Benjamin Hanby wrote the song in 1864.

Natural Springs Resort in New Paris is a family-friendly park and camping destination with more than 200 sites available and more than a dozen cabins for rent.

“We have a lot to offer from the standpoint of the lake that you see out here and swimming. We do have also a heated pool splash pad,” describes Steve Adams, who’s been the resort manager going on 18 years.

The resort also offers volleyball, basketball, and playgrounds for kids.

“We also have swimming in the lake, and we also have people that come out and do diving out here,” says Adams. “We also have paddle boats and kayaks available for rent.”

Adams jokes they have all the Olympic sports, just not at the Olympic level.

In downtown New Paris on East Main Street, the New Paris Antique Mall plays off the Paris name.

“We have the Eiffel Tower on our logo,” smiles Linda Kelley who owns the shop with her husband Keith. “We’re really proud of it. And we do just love antiques. We love looking for the finds. We love fixing things up, selling them to people.”

“This town was settled by agricultural people from Paris, Kentucky,” states Keith Kelley.

In the store, they even have decorative Eiffel Towers.

“My husband has always had a huge interest in antiques. He came over here one time and saw this building for sale, bought it, and wanted to start this antique shop,” describes Linda Kelley. “We’re actually just a mile from 70 and Route 40. So, it’s a perfect location. Is an old historic building. It was built in 1873.”

The Kelleys have owned the shop for 15 years.

“We’ve been here 15 years and enjoying every minute. I joined the Chamber of Commerce right away when I first got here to help,” says Keith Kelley. “Some of my friends were saying, why did you pick New Paris? And I said, well, it’s just hometown America.”

Both New Paris and St. Paris are home to a lot of history and pieces of the past. This tale of two cities is just as special as the French namesake more than 4,000 miles away.

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